On the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the BC Bike Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre. This event is organized by people who know their supporters – they had a free bicycle valet outside the convention!
At the show they had bikes for every segment of the market – including bikes with frames made out of bamboo.
The bamboo frames are put together in the Philippines and then imported for assembly. Pretty funky idea. The frames have a three year warranty and are coated with a water-proofing material but the guy at their booth recommended giving the bike a good wipe down after riding in the rain.
I checked the Bambike Canada website and the bike pictured above (or one similar to it) is about $1300. Pretty good price for a cool looking bike that is part of a socio-ecolgical enterprise.
However, I had a limited amount of time to spend at the show so I spent my time in the ebike section of the show. What an amazing display of technology! Ebike technology has developed very quickly in recent years.
This bike – pictured above – was the real show stopper. This one was completely custom built by the team at Vintage Iron E-Cycles and yes, it is crazy expensive at $8495, but like I said, it is a full custom build with no expense spared.
If the BC Bike Show had a best overall e-bike, this bike would have won the best in show award. Style galore.
Or, if you want to relive your childhood dreams of having a classic mini-bike – check out the Vintage Iron Mini Bike. I am very tempted and at $2000 – why not! Sell the car and buy another e-bike!
The guys at the booth assured me that the batteries last for approximately 100 kilometres – of course that completely depends on the way you ride as well as the terrain you are riding.
For more affordable but still very cool looking retro-looking rides I checked in at the BC Bike Show with Rayvolt Premium E Bikes. Not inexpensive, but the bike pictured above retails for about $3500. And, you would be the coolest cat on ANY ride if you are on a Rayvolt e-bike.
As well as all the cool retro, vintage rides, there were also displays with the more utilitarian bike retailers like Voltbike and Rad Power Bikes. Just like the crew at Rayvolt Premium E-Bikes the Voltbike crew invited me to come out to their shop and test ride some of their e-bikes. Guaranteed I will be doing that. Video footage to follow.
Last but definitely not least, is the ultra-nerdy GRIN Technologies display. These guys can get or MAKE any of the gadgets required to convert your daily ride to an electric bike. I missed the demo but on Sunday they demonstrated how to convert a regular daily rider bike into an e-bike.
This is definitely a shop I will be visiting again soon – I want to convert my big orange cruiser into an e-bike! And these are the guys who will be able to help me complete that conversion.
Other than that, I didn’t have much time for anything else at the show. Well, other than watching some people ride their bicycles over some big lumps and do wild stunts.
That’s it for the 2019 BC Bike Show. Get out there and ride!